xbox360 rip, what do I need to know?

[Blitzwing256]

a few months ago my 360 shit the bed, strangely I hardly used it, aside from blue dragon and lost odessy nothing even remotely interested me in the disk games (xbox arcade is a differnt story) anyways the system stopped reading disks, I tried cleaning it to no avail, it may read a disk once every 20 or so tries, which is pretty unacceptable for a barely used 400$+ system.

so I guess its time to call 18004myxb0x (that is the number right?)

so heres my dilema, I have a very short patience level with "outsourced" tech support, I have a really shitty phone that runs off of minutes and I have poor hearing so this could get painfully expensive just to call!

my fear of getting someone who speaks the bad english on the other end and being stuck on hold for 2 hours bugs me, so in short what type of response am I looking at on the phone?
and what information do I need to have on hand to make the call as least painfull as possible? (ie less time spending looknig up certain numbers on my crap system?)

[Kevin H]

You can do alot of registering online first, that way you avoid the whole name number stuff. Try to do as much online as possible especially if you call late at night

[Blitzwing256]

where do I start from?

[Volcanon]

Call from a public phone.
Demand to speak to somebody in north america.

[unwinddesign]

You may also want to tell them that it RRoD'd. Obviously this is a lie (blah blah morals and all that), but you might be out of warranty otherwise and have to pay for it out of pocket. Warranty is 3 years on RRoD. I think it's 90 days on everything else, although it might be a year.

Just something to keep in mind. Since the DVD drive issue hasn't really sparked lots of internet jokez and firez like the RRoD, MS hasn't acknowledged it as much. But it's a fairly prevalent issue, and they should pay for their fuckup...

[NYLatenite]

I've never had much of a wait when calling 1-800-4MY-XBOX, but there are times when you'll get someone who isn't proficient in English. On that end, the best you can do is hope that you get an agent who speaks english natively, doesn't have an accent that makes them hard to understand (and vice versa) and most importantly, knows what they are doing.

To make your life easier though...

1.) Have the serial # of your 360 ready in advance. If you never registered it with MS, expect to need your Name, Address, Phone Number and e-mail address. Also, be ready for them to inquire about when you bought your 360. (They may have it on file if the retail registers purchases with them or they may even ask you for a receipt to prove purchase date - since I registered on day one with them, I don't know what you can expect from them if they need that info)

2.) Remember - the terms of your warranty are one year against hardware failures, 3 years against Red Ring failures (unless you bought the extended warranty direct from MS). If you're out of warranty or have voided your warranty, expect a $130 charge for repairs.

3.) Go through all the troubleshooting steps at Xbox.com (and let them know you've already tried them)

3A.) If you're getting "Can't read disc" errors, use this link for troubleshooting;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909819/en-us

3B.) If you're getting the Red Ring of Death, use this link for troubleshooting;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534

3C.) If your 360 keeps freezing, use this link for troubleshooting;
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907586/

4.) The online repair agent is at https://service.xbox.com/servicehome.aspx - however, last time I tried using it, it was down. Still, couldn't hurt to try.

5.) Be polite, speak as clearly as you can and don't speak too quickly. The agent is much more likely to be helpful if he/she doesn't think you're a jerk.

6.) Remember - the terms of your warranty are one year against hardware failures, 3 years against Red Ring failures (unless you bought the extended warranty direct from MS). If you're out of warranty or have voided your warranty, expect a $130 charge for repairs.

7.) If the agent seems to be telling you something you know isn't true, politely ask to speak to a supervisor. A lot of the times, the people who answer the initial support lines are not well versed in policy - especially things that they don't hear every day (like the wireless racing wheel retrofit)

8.) Document the details of your conversation with support in the event you have to call back. Make sure to take down the reference numbers they give you,

-Good luck!

[Blitzwing256]

excellent, thats exactly what I was looking for.

I had a bunch of game freezes with lost odessy and a few with the street fighter beta (but that might have just been the betas fault ;-) )